Goodnight
by ThJaFl
Summary: Beka sings a song her Ma used to sing to her for Pounce. Guess who overhears? Songfic to Goodnight My Someone. Terrier Fanfic.


**I do not own any characters that appear in Terrier, nor do I own the lyrics to Goodnight My Someone. Those belong to Tamora Pierce and Meredith Willson. Enjoy!**

**Beka-**

I sighed, and folded up the stitching my "friends" had dumped on me. What do they do, tear them on _purpose?_ I hummed a song Ma had sung to me when I was little, and when her man and the lung rot left her well enough. Pounce mrted, as if to ask what I was thinking about.

"A song Ma used to sing to me. It's stuck in my head." I smiled a little, my head full of fond memories from when Ma was well. Suddenly an' unbidden, my last memory of her on Mutt Piddle Lane surfaced. I saw her as he left her: both eyes blacked an' blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. He left her poor, beaten an' abandoned, already ravaged by the lung rot. I caught him, him an' his gang, afore I handed them over to my Lord Provost. There was something satisfying about catching and handing him over, but to this day I hate all rushers an' rogues. Or rather, all but one….

_**Sing, I want to hear it.**_ Pounce said, but I didn't hear him through my thoughts. He jumped on the bed and pawed me, waking me from my thoughts in time to realize how late it was if I wanted to return my sewing to its owners. So I got up and gathered all my sewing into the basket I held. Which I promptly dropped as Pounce swiped his claws at me. When I scowled at him he repeated his request.

"What? You want to hear _my_ horrible singing _that bad?" _Pounce mrted in agreement. "Fine, but I warned you." I made sure everything was still in the basket and sat on my bed facing the window. I sat in silence for a little while until Pounce climbed into my lap, as if to remind me that he was here and waiting. I finished gathering the song from the back of my mind and started to sing.

_**Goodnight, my someone,**_

_**Goodnight, my love,**_

**Rosto-**

What a long day! Three complaints of thievery, two requests for cooking supplies, nine questions about the Shadow Snake, three or four mumpers begging for some money, an' four duels for the position of Rogue. Yes, they were easy, but still, there were four! One right after the other! I was just coming back from a visit to Kora. I figured it wasn't worth the scolding from Beka I'd get if I walked into her lodging house with a hole or two in me. Speaking of Beka, was she home yet? She probably was. I thought about knocking on her door, to pester her and have the fun of annoying her, but decided against it. She would probably try to attack me or something, an' I was too tired to dodge.

_**Sleep tight, my someone,**_

_**Sleep tight, my love,**_

_Wait! What was that? Was that… Beka?_ I looked through her keyhole. It was Beka! Mithros above, I never knew she could sing that well! I decided against going straight to bed as planned, preferring instead to sit outside her door an' listen to her sing.

_**Our star is shining it's brightest light**_

_**For goodnight, my love, for goodnight.**_

What next? First I hear Beka singing with a voice that could practically call down the angels, which I_ didn't_ know about, _in spite_ of being the King of the Rogues. Now this! Beka, my sweet and solid, down-to-earth Beka, singing _love songs_ I'm the only one who's been flirting with her for _months!_ I must have missed something.

_**Sweet dreams be yours, dear,**_

_**If dreams there be**_

_**Sweet dreams to carry you close to me.**_

I wonder why she's singing this song. It's a love song, it's meant to be sung late at night, an' it seems that it is more of a song sung by a single mot with wishful thinking, or even sung to a lover, not sung by a solid, down-to-earth mot in the afternoon, even if it is late. All in all, the opposite of what I'd expect her to sing. Not that I'm complaining, mind.

_**I wish they may and I wish they might**_

_**Now goodnight, my someone, goodnight**_

All this mention of sleeping and night is making me feel so tired… If this keeps up, I might fall asleep outside her door. Kyprioth knows what would happen if she found me out here.

_**True love can be whispered from heart to heart**_

_**When lovers are parted, they say**_

_**But I must depend on a wish and a star**_

_**As long as my heart doesn't know who you are.**_

There are _definite_ advantages to having a girl like Beka as a housemate. A cove, even the Rogue, can sleep safe at night with a dog like the Terrier around, and it's so much fun pulling her tail. Not to mention that it gives me a reason to hang around the mot I'm madly in love with. Why can't she see that? I've already had Tunstall take me to the side for a talk that sums up to _"It's her choice, but remember: no matter what happens, if you hurt her, you will have three dogs with a grudge out to get you." "Three?" "Me, Clary, an' Lord Provost. Three determined dogs. Determined to see you drawn and quartered, should anything happen. You get my point?"_ **Yes.** Sword point, dagger point, knifepoint, and any other point you care to name. That was probably one of the _most_ embarrassing talks I've _ever_ had in my life, second only to that "Birds an' the Bees" talk my father gave me back when I had just turned thirteen._ Ug._

_**Sweet dreams be yours dear,**_

_**If dreams there be**_

_**Sweet dreams to carry you close to me.**_

_**I wish they may and I wish they might**_

She's stopped. Why did she stop? I heard her sigh.

"Will I ever find love, Pounce?" she asked. This was too much. I got up to go an' creep back to my room, when I heard soft scratching on the door, from the inside. _Pounce._

I bolted back to my room an' closed the door as Beka opened hers. I don't think she saw me, but I'm sure Pounce did. Darn that cat! When did he decide to start playing matchmaker? I mean, it's her choice, no matter how much I love her. An' she shouldn't have a _cat_ tell her she loves me, particularly if she doesn't, even if he is a god.

_Shoot_! She's still out there. It's too early to pretend to be asleep, so I sat at my desk, trying to make it look like I'd been there for hours. Or at least longer than a few minutes. I heard some soft scratching on the door and ignored it, hoping they would go away. No such luck. Next there's knocking, too loud for me to pretend not to hear. So with a tiny sigh I went over an' opened the door, faking mild surprise at seeing Beka there.

Pounce strutted into my room, jumped onto the bed, an' meowed. I was surprised. That is maybe the second cat-like thing I have ever seen him do. Tonight was a night full of surprises. I saw Beka's eyes widen an' her gob dropped so low I expected it to hit the floor. Then she realized what she was doing and she blushed slightly. She turned around and slammed the door shut and stationed herself in front of it.

"Well? Were you?" she demanded. Okay, _what?_ I had a vague guess what she was talking about, but I hoped by the Trickster I was wrong.

"Was I what?" At this she looked slightly angry until Pounce mrted. Then she got over her anger and started to look abashed, an' blushed a little harder.

"Did you hear me singing? Pounce says he saw you sneak into your room when I opened my door." She paused for a second. "You know what, scratch that. Did you hear what I said _after_ I finished singing?" _Quick, laddybuck, use that noggin you're so proud of and find a way around this question!_

I settled for the obvious. "Pounce said?" By now, Beka was a nice bright tomatoe red. But she was determined.

"Pounce talks, and I can hear him. Now stop sidestepping the question you scut! Answer me!"Now it was my turn to look abashed. _Oh boy. What to do, what to do._

I looked at her an' thought about what she had said. I thought about how smart she is, how brave, how independent she is. How beautiful she is. An' so, I answered the only way I could.

**Beka-**

_Boy_ was Pounce acting weird. He was scratching the door like he wanted out, but he can get out on his own. His company on my rounds was proof of that. So he must want to show me something. I opened the door. I thought I saw a flash of cloth, however, when I looked again, no one was in sight an' everyone's door was closed, so I thought I'd imagined it. But Pounce walked right over to Rosto's door and started scratching. I waited for him to open it, that boy has ears like a hawk. It's one of those things you need if you're the most-known rogue in Tortall. I sighed.

_Why_ did he have to be the King of the Rogues? I _would_ be ill-fortuned to fall for the one man I should not, the one man I _cannot_ love, between the job I'll never give up an' the memory of Ma an' her man. What's more, he's got Aniki, maybe Kora, an' I'd hate to be on the wrong side of their daggers, or swords in Aniki's case. I mean, they're some of my best friends.

Pounce mrted to call me back to where he was still trying to get into Rosto's room. So I knocked. Was that a small sigh I heard before he opened the door? Something was wrong. He looked surprised to see me, which is odd of itself, but his surprise looked a little forced. And since he could answer the door, and knowing how good his hearing was, it seemed like he had deliberately ignored Pounce. Something very strange was afoot. Pounce sauntered into his room and jumped up on the bed before curling up.

_**He was listening outside the door while you where singing. I saw him slip back into his room when you opened your door.**_ I gaped. I know I gaped, 'cause my gob started getting sore from openin' so much. When I realized that, I shut it quick-like and blushed. Then I started getting angry, so I spun around, slammed the door shut and stationed myself in front of it, so he couldn't slip off before he answered my questions. He looked startled at that so I decided to question him before he questioned me.

"Well? Were you?" He looked even more startled at this, like he wanted me to clarify.

"Was I what?" Then I started getting annoyed. He knew _very well_ what he did.

_**He can't hear me.**_ Pounce gently reminded me. I mentally kicked myself, as I blushed a little harder.

"Did you hear me singing? Pounce says he saw you sneak into your room when I opened my door." As I said it, I didn't really care if he heard my terrible singing skills, but if he heard what I said after I stopped… "You know what, scratch that. Did you hear what I said _after_ I finished singing?"

"Pounce said?" At this point my face was probably so bright red that butterflies would be attracted to it. Now he thought I was cracknobbed. Ah well. So does the rest of the lower city. But will he just answer the question? Anger got the best of me.

"Pounce talks, and I can hear him. Now stop side-stepping the question you scut! Answer me!"

Ok, is it me, or is Rosto starting to blush? Yes… I think he is! He didn't seem to notice me staring at him, but as soon as I noticed I looked away. Unable to look away for long, I glanced at him again, and I saw him come to some sort of a decision.

He stepped forward and I tried to retreat, but my back ran into the door. He bent down a little and he… he kissed me. I will never in my entire life forget that kiss. How right it felt. He was gentle, but with enough force to make his point.

I wasn't expecting it, so I think I even may have kissed back. _Mithros._ At this rate I will _never_ be able to keep that promise to punch him next time he kisses me.

When we broke apart, he bent down and whispered something in my ear.

"In answer to your question, yes. And I'd say you've already found it." And then he was gone before I'd even realized he moved, past me and out the door. I went back to my room, closed my door, and fell onto my bed in a daze.

"Did that really just happen?" I asked the air. I don't know how long I lay there, but I know Pounce left my room at least once. Probably off to visit his lady cat friends and grace the world with his purple-eyed kittens. Eventually I heard Pounce try to mrt around something and looked over. Pounce had something in his mouth. He jumped onto the bed next to me and dropped something by my hand. It was a simple ring; with a stone the color of my eyes. As I picked it up, my hands shook.

_**There's a note, too.**_ Pounce told me softly, breaking through my shock. He turned around and presented me with his collar. I pulled a little piece of paper out and unfolded it. What it said was simple, but I will never admit how much those few words meant to me.

_Dear Beka,_

_I love you. You may only think of me as a friend, but I love you, and always will. I would never ask you to give up your dog work, I would never be like your Da, and I'd go completely straight for you. Why don't you know that? Well, I understand if you don't feel the same, but know I will always be there for you, no matter what. The ring is a reminder of that._

_Love,_

_The Piper_

_**You know, you never did finish that song.**_ Pounce said after I read and reread the letter. As he said it, his tail deliberately flicked towards the closed door. I knew what he was saying. So I put on my new ring and sang.

_**Now goodnight, my someone, goodnight.**_

_**Goodnight,**_

_**Goodnight.**_

Quietly, so quietly that I almost missed it, I heard the sound of a door shutting. And I knew that in his room, Rosto was smiling.

**Well there you have it. I might continue it if enough people ask me to.**


End file.
